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Is it Appropriate to Hire a Coder to Copy Script from Another Site?

by Izesta
6 replies
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Is it Appropriate to Hire a Coder to Copy Script from Another Site?

Does anyone know?

I want to hire a coder to write a script for me. It's a pretty common script and I could easily use a third-party script found on numerous sites. But it's something that will be the backbone of my business and I don't want to rely on a script running on someone else's site.

Is it appropriate to just tell the coder that I want him to write a script for me that works like www.????.com? And then include any modifications I might want.

And can anyone recommend a great coder?

Thanks for any help.
#coder #script
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    If you copy anything original, EVEN the "look and feel", it is technically illegal. so NOPE, it isn't appropriate. Barnes & noble did one click ordering and though I don't agree in THIS particular case, amazon sued them and won. Borland copied visicalc and IBM sued them because they bought lotus which copied from visicalc. IBM won. They won STRICTLY on "look and feel".

    BTW copying the functionality based on a running program is called reverse engineering, and you will find most licenses SPECIFICALLY prohibit it.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author cpace32
      As long as it isn't patented (which it probably isn't). Just don't copy it too closely, or else it will look bad in your customer's eyes.

      There is usually nothing wrong with cloning functionality or appearances from an existing competitor, though.
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      • Profile picture of the author Izesta
        Thanks for your comments "seasoned" and "cspace32."

        The end result I need will not be very original or unique - as far as the online world goes. What I want would be akin to wanting someone to write a program to do what getresponse does. And, no, I don't need an autoresponder. Just using as an example. But I do want something that is about as popular and non-unique as an autoresponder.

        I wouldn't want to copy every facet of the other program. Primarily what it would do is spare me the extra effort of writing out every nuance of what I want - versus the coder being able to easily see the function in a working program.
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  • Profile picture of the author jorgemarget
    As long as it isn't patented (which it probably isn't). Just don't copy it too closely, or else it will look bad in your customer's eyes. There is usually nothing wrong with cloning functionality or appearances from an existing competitor, though
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    • Profile picture of the author Rick88
      In order to do this ask justice for yourself, since you stated that you wanted to do it for your site, you need to clearly define exactly what it is that you want it to do. You may have a special something done that you want to have happen. Almost all use a program or script that has features we don't want and some that we want but are not there. Once the clearly defined goal is completed then you can tell your programmer here is what you want this to do and this site/program is similar to what you want this project to be like.

      Similar functionality is not wrong in the sense that an autoresponder functionality is used by several big names like AWEBER and GetResponse to name a couple. The look and feel of the two are similar in a fashion but not closely similar that they have the same exact menus, options, and colors.

      To copy the script you want exactly as long as it is not copyrighted or patented is still a question for the legal minds but there are probably open source programs your programmer can take and adapt to your requirements. Open Source is free for you to adapt as you would like.

      Since it seems as though you really just want to host the software on your own site then open source program with a programmer changing it to your specifications might be an excellent option.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Pettit
    Originality is great.
    On the other hand, there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
    Use what works. Borrow, amplify, modify... MEET your audience Where They Are.
    And keep tweaking: Continuous Improvement.
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